Courtney Stodden Opens Up About the Neurological Disorder That Caused Their ‘Weird’ Behavior in the Notorious 2011 Interview

Courtney Stodden Reveals That A Tourette’s Diagnosis Was The Reason For ‘Weird’ Behavior In 2011 Interview

Courtney Stodden has come clean to the public that they have been diagnosed with Courtney Stodden Tourette’s diagnosis, which explains the behavior that they exhibited in the famous 2011 interview.

On Sunday, the model made an announcement about the diagnosis by uploading the clip of their ABC News interview with Lara Spencer, which happened only a couple of months after the 16-year-old Stodden married the 51-year-old Doug Hutchinson.

“They turned the whole thing into a joke… but there was a reason, ” Stodden, a non-binary individual who identifies with they/them pronouns, penned a very emotional note on Instagram explaining that the diagnosis is the cause of their behavior.

Courtney Stodden Reveals What It’s Like to Have Tourette’s Syndrome

Courtney Stodden talked more about their Tourette’s diagnosis and shared a part of their story that others have misunderstood for years.

“No one ever really got that part of my story, ” Stodden said. “When I was diagnosed as an adult, I was told that I had had Tourette syndrome… and I lived with uncontrollable tics for most of my childhood.”

The 31-year-old said their tics were stuttering, squinting, mouth movements, muscle tension, and, when they were younger, even seizures.

“Before now I never mentioned it… because I was ashamed, ” Stodden confessed. “For one thing, I didn’t want to reveal my condition to everyone. That way I thought I would be seen as strange, as if there was ‘something wrong’ with me. So I kept it a secret.”

Courtney Stodden Admits How Tourette’s Changed Her Life During an Interview That Went Viral in 2011

Courtney Stodden admitted that when their “tics and muscle spasms happened, ” they made the movements “intentional” and “sexy” so that no one would notice what they were feeling.

Nonetheless, in their viral 2011 interview, the nervous tics got the better of them. “That’s when people went crazy on me… people thought I was on something, ” Stodden said. “I wasn’t. There was no alcohol. No pills. Nothing in my system.”

Stodden said, “Basically… you saw a Tourette’s girl who, under the pressure of being watched, was trying to hold herself together. Her body was reacting in a way that she didn’t even have the words to describe it. And instead of being understood… she was laughed at.”

Courtney Stodden Embraces , Overcoming Shame

Courtney Stodden revealed that after many years of hiding their Tourette’s syndrome, they are now “not ashamed” of their diagnosis.

“Because it’s totally okay and there’s nothing to be ashamed of with something that you didn’t have any control over, ” they explained. “And if you have ever been misunderstood because of something your body did… then you are not the only one.”

Stodden was first scrutinized by the tabloids in 2011 when, aged 16, they hastily married Doug Hutchison, who is now 65, in Las Vegas.

Courney Stodden on a Tough Marriage with Doug Hutchison

Courtney Stodden and Doug Hutchison split up and got back together several times before deciding to finish their relationship in 2017. Their divorce was closed three years later.

During an interview with Page Six in 2022, Stodden referred to their marriage with the Green Mile actor as feeling like “a conservatorship.”

“It was really difficult trying to live in that, ” they stated, “not being able to just be free.”